The monsters charged.

For a split second, Emilia thought of how all of them were related, how the Olympians came from the Titans, how the Titans and Giants came from Gaea.

And the more she considered it, the more she considered that she wasn't descended from Gaea. Her grandmother, Nyx, was Gaea's sister, even Tartarus's sister. The rest of the demigods, they came from gods who had been sired by Kronos or others, nearly all descended from Titans (except for Aphrodite) and born of Gaea and Ouranos.

But she? She wasn't part of that. She went beyond it. It was no wonder she was strong enough to be an anchor. She was an ancient force and Gaea meant to use that. She wasn't just a child of the pit, she had the power of the pit.

As Jason was ambushed by the storm spirits and Leo leapt to battle Khione, Emilia swept out her hands. The Earthborn and the wolves that surged toward her and Piper were blasted back by a storm of shadows, drawn right from the earth that Porphyrion was rising out of. She channeled her and Gaea's connection to the pit, she channeled their darkness and flung it back to them.

Every single bolt turned into dark energy without her having to swipe her hands together to form it. Wolves fell injured all around, many Earthborn melted instantly, and those that didn't were taken care of Piper, who was slicing them apart with her dagger without a problem.

Leo was handling Khione perfectly fine. Each time she summoned ice daggers, blasts of winter air, or tornadoes of snow, Leo would burn through it, his whole body flickering with red tongues of flame like he'd been doused in gasoline. His fiery aura was heating up the whole courtyard, ice melting even around the Hunters. One by one they started getting up, launching themselves at the injured wolves.

Emilia stood her ground, the shadows continuing to flow out, Tartarus's presence felt on earth. The wolves were starting to scamper away, the storm spirits Jason hadn't already taken care of– while riding on one of the storm spirits that was in the form of a horse– were scattering, the Earthborn were melting back into the earth and staying there.

Porphyrion wasn't rising anymore. He stayed right where he was as Emilia channeled the energy being used to wake him toward the other monsters. There came a point when Khione burst into a puff of snow, not able to keep up with Leo. Most of the Hunters were awake, the Wolf House's battle was gone, and all that was left was to free Hera.

"I'll keep trying to hold him down!" said Emilia, though she realized she was getting tired now that the snowstorm was gone. It wasn't dark enough anymore.

"Hurry!" said Hera, now visible through the bars again. "The earth is trying to claim me!"

She was right. The ground was rising around her like water in a tank. Leo got to working on the cage, "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage. Use everything you've got. Convince Gaea to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen. Emilia, can you channel the power back to Hera?"

"I can try," said Emilia uncertainly, tilting her hands toward the cage. The shadows swirled toward it, the earth ceasing its movement. Piper called out, "Hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

It was difficult for Emilia to keep herself from falling asleep. She kept listening to Piper's words and feeling herself starting to grow limp, only to be shaken by Jason, reminding her that Piper was talking to Gaea, not to them. He looked just as exhausted.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can channel the magic back," warned Emilia, arms beginning to shake. The earth stood still, Porphyrion remained trapped, still not fully risen, but she wasn't sure she could hold him for much longer.

"I know, I know," said Leo as he continued trying to break the cage. He pulled a circular saw out of his toolbelt and grunted in frustration when he lifted the cord. "I don't have anywhere to plug it in!"

The spirit/wind horse that Jason had somehow ridden whinnied behind them. "Really?" asked Jason. The horse dipped his head and trotted over to Leo. He looked dubious, but held up the plug, and a breeze whisked it into the horse's flank. Lightning sparked, connecting with the prongs of the plug, and the circular saw whirred to life.

"Sweet!" Leo grinned. "Your hose comes with AC outlets."

Emilia gave a whimper, knees beginning to buckle. Piper was still talking, Leo was still working, but she was growing far too weak without the night to shield her. She looked at the spire, focusing on what was inside. Porphyrion looked bigger than Enceladus, more ripped and seemingly magnetic with strength. He was the bane of Zeus, after all, maybe he was conducting some sort of electricity to draw them to their deaths.

He was  humanoid from the waist up, clad in bronze armor, and from the waist down he seemed to have the same scaly dragon legs, but his skin was the color of lima beans. His hair was green as summer leaves, braided in long locks and decorated with weapons– daggers, axes, and full-size swords, some of them bent and bloody. Looking at him made her feel sick and made no contributions to improving her morale.

"Someone, talk to me about something," begged Emilia, sweat beading on her forehead. Her and Piper's combined efforts were keeping the earth at bay, but how much longer would it last? "Anything. Please. Keep me awake."

"I remember more," admitted Jason as he watched the horse power Leo's saw. It was hard to hear him as the horse whinnied and the saw rang, but Emilia tried to focus on his voice. "Being here, I feel as though I know who I am. Emilia, you were right. There are Roman demigods. I'm a child of Rome. I'm... consul to demigods, praetor of the First Legion."

"What does that mean?" asked Emilia, gladly more confused than exhausted.

"I still don't know. It's like I know it, like I've said it many times, and understood it for a long time." He held out his arm, showing his tattoo again. "This, it means something, it's from my home, a testament to what I've done. I can almost see it clearly. I slew the Trojan sea monster, I toppled the black throne of Kronos, and destroyed the Titan Krios with my own hands."

"Wow, dude," muttered Leo. "You been eating red meat?"

Jason cracked a smile even though he seemed conflicted. "Being back in California has memories flooding back. I want to come back here soon. I still don't know where my home is but... it's somewhere nearby." He faced Emilia. "Will you visit your aunt after this?"

She blinked several times. "I would like to. I just don't know if it'll go well."

"We'll come with you," offered Jason. "We'll help you through it."

"You... don't need to do that."

He gestured to the shadows curling off of Porphyrion's spire and into the base of the cage. "You're keeping him asleep as we speak. You've kept us alive on this quest. We're your friends and we're going to be there to support you. If it goes well we'll celebrate with you. If it doesn't, we'll be there and we'll remind you that you have a family with us. If... you'd like one."

"That's..." She didn't even know what to say. Piper looked so proud, Leo was grinning. "That's very kind of you, Jason. Really."

He hardly knows himself, how could he know you? He'll realize soon enough that you're a fraud, that you'll never really be one of them. They'll think differently about your abilities once they've had time to consider them. They'll realize how much of a threat you are, calling the darkness of the pit to this world. They'll remember you are my mother's anchor to the world and they will think it best to kill you.

The stone and wood cage crumbled, snapping her to the reality where the tendrils broke, cutting off the cage's connection to Gaea. They turned to dust, the mud disintegrating completely. Hera stood, growing in size and glowing with power. She threw off her black robes to reveal a white gown, her arms bedecked with golden jewelry. Her face was both terrible and beautiful, and a golden crown glowed in her long black hair.

"Cover your eyes, my heroes!" shouted Hera.

Emilia let go of the shadows, pulling Jason, Piper, and Leo to the ground, all of them shutting their eyes as she turned into a supernova. When the light faded around them, she looked up and saw Porphyrion had sunk back into the earth, not destroyed but not awoken.

Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters were completely vaporized, the ruins were restored to a normal ruin appearance rather than one overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and Earthborn. The Hunters were completely revived.

"I don't suppose that Porphyrion guy just melted and died, huh?" said Hera.

"No," she agreed. "By saving me, and saving this place, you prevented Gaea from waking. You have bought us some time. But Porphyrion was nearly risen. He will likely lie in wait somewhere safer. Soon, he will be fully reborn. It won't take much more power to complete the process."

Emilia's heart sank, but she supposed it was good that Porphyrion wouldn't be anywhere near here. Thalia walked up to them, glad to see they were okay. She offered Piper and Emilia two cards. "Hey. You have spirit. You ever want to be a Hunter, call me. We could use both of you."

She was stunned to receive this offer. Instead of making faces, she did her best to just smile, nod, and tuck the card away. Piper did the same. "I need to find Annabeth," said Thalia. "She has to know what's happened here."

"Thalia..." Jason gripped her hand. "We never got to talk about this place, or–"

"I know." Her expression softened. "I lost you here once. I don't want to leave you again. But we'll meet soon. I'll rendezvous with you back at Camp Half-Blood." She glanced at Hera. "You'll see them there safely? It's the least you can do."

Hera sneered, "It's not your place to tell me–"

"Queen Hera," interceded Piper convincingly.

The goddess signed. "Fine. Yes. Just off with you, Hunter!" Thalia gave Jason a hug and said her good-byes. When the Hunters were gone, the courtyard seemed strangely quiet.

"Jason, what happened to you here?" asked Piper, perhaps wondering if Jason might remember more now that the battle was gone. "Do you...?"

Jason shook his head uneasily. "It's still murky. The wolves..."

"You were given a destiny," said Hera. "You were given into my service."

Jason scowled. "Because you forced my mom to do that. You couldn't stand knowing Zeus had two children with my mom. Knowing that he'd fallen for her twice. I was the price you demanded for leaving the rest of my family alone."

"It was the right choice for you as well, Jason," insisted Hera. "The second time your mother managed to snare Zeus's affections, it was because she imagined him in a different aspect– the aspect of Jupiter. Never before had this happened– two children, Greek and Roman, born into the same family. You had to be separated from Thalia. This is where all demigods of your kind start their journey."

"The Romans," said Emilia carefully. Hera nodded.

"Demigods are left here," recalled Jason slowly. "We meet the she-wolf goddess, Lupa, the same immortal wolf that raised Romulus and Remus. If we're strong enough, we live."

"So that's the first step," deduced Emilia. "The Roman camp we think might exist. It's somewhere near here, isn't it?"

Hera smiled thinly. "It is part of both your destinies to find your way there. When you do, you will unite two great powers. You will give us hope against the giants, and more importantly– against Gaea herself."

"I'm both," said Emilia. "Why... why wasn't I left here?"

"You would've been," said Hera. "If we could reach you. The gods were not aware of your birth, daughter of Eris, not until you became part of Kronos's army. You were protected by a veil that you broke when you began to use your abilities knowingly. You are caught between worlds, you have a choice of where you make your home. You can belong where you decide. It's why I chose you to anchor the Eight. Giving you answers to all your questions would make the answers invalid. That is the way of the Fates. You must all forge your own path for it to mean anything. Already, you four have surprised me. I would not have thought that possible..."

The goddess shook her head, "Suffice to say, you have performed well, demigods. But this is only the beginning. Now you must return to Camp Half-Blood, where you will begin planning for the next phase."

"Which you won't tell us about," grumped Jason. "And I suppose you destroyed my nice storm spirit horse, so we'll have to walk home?"

Hera waved aside the question. "Storm spirits are creatures of chaos. I did not destroy that one, though I have no idea where he went or whether you'll see him again. But there is an easier way home for you. As you have done me a great service, so I can help you– at least this once. Farewell, demigods, for now."

The world turned upside down. Emilia felt a tug in her gut, a jolt as she landed, and next thing she knew, they were standing on the Aphrodite table in the middle of dinner. Piper had one foot in Drew's pizza. Sixty campers rose at once, gawking at them in astonishment.

Leo jumped off the table, ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it. Piper looked queasy herself– Jason had to keep both her and Emilia from sinking off the table nauseously.

"Jason?" Chiron trotted forward. "What– how–?"

"Hi," said Piper casually. "We're back."

-

Emilia wasn't really sure what happened after that. She remembered Pollux nearly breaking her ribs in a tight hug, Will congratulating her after they told their story, a million questions that didn't make sense ringing around until finally, they were tired and ordered them to bed.

She passed out as soon as she hit her mattress, having no strength to even shower. In the morning, she scrubbed herself practically raw, not having felt so clean since before they left for the quest.

"Emilia!" said Pollux, slamming his hands on the door. "Breakfast, come on!"

She had the shadows open the door for her, raising a brow as he cleared a path for her. "You're breaking rules again," she teased. "People are going to start talking."

"We should've sent you on a quest ages ago," said Pollux. He gestured to the tank top she was wearing. "I didn't even know you had actual arms, I figured the constant long-sleeves meant you had like, just bones or something."

"Blame Aphrodite," she said. "Think you'd be up for a trip to the city– if Chiron allows it– to help me rebuild my wardrobe? Piper will probably come."

"Hell yeah. Free shit using her charmspeak? How could I say no?"

"I never said we'd be stealing!"

"Oh, no, but I expect us to. I love stealing from rich corporations."

"You sound like the Stoll brothers."

He winked. "How do you know I'm not Connor or Travis in disguise?"

"I would hope my first friend here wasn't all a lie."

Pollux's face fell for a moment, and she thought she'd said the wrong thing, until he hugged her again. "You think I'm your friend?" He drew back. "I thought you just tolerated me this whole time."

Emilia managed a smile. It must not have looked as creepy as usual, because Pollux grinned. "I'm still working on a lot of things, but this quest has taught me a few things about what friends are like. You've been a friend to me. I want to be a good friend to you, if you'll be patient with me."

"Hell yeah. I'll be training you properly now. Sword, too, and being a good wing-woman. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Only if you'll be a wing-man for me. I lean both ways... apparently... so feel free to get creative."

He smirked. "Oh, I will be creative. I'll be visiting Seattle soon to tour the University of Washington now that I've submitted my application. I'm really liking the stuff I've heard about their Botany program. I already met some people in the program and they'll let us into some frat parties."

Emilia wasn't sure how much that excited her, but she figured it would be nice to go and help Pollux enjoy it. "Alright. Sounds fun. Maybe I'll see how I feel on a college campus, decide if I'll go bother you there or reapply to Berkeley."

The future held so many options. It was intimidating. Emilia was glad to eat breakfast, not bothered to be seated by herself this time. She saw Piper in the afternoon and learned that Drew had stepped down as senior counselor after she challenged her and even put Katoptris under her chin. It even made Emilia giggle.

Piper even got a chance to make a video call to check in on her dad. Coach Hedge would stay to keep an eye on Piper's dad a bit longer. Mellie had even been hired as Mr. McLean's new assistant.

Later in the day, Leo revealed Bunker Nine to them, Chiron, and his cabinmates. Deep in the woods, a place Fetus had shown him, was a stream that led into a limestone cliff a hundred feet tall. Leo ignited his palm, lines of fire igniting the cliff until they outlined a glowing red door five times Emilia's height. It swung open to reveal a cavern.

It was the size of an airplane hangar, with endless worktables and storage cages, rows of garage-sized doors along either wall, and staircases that led up to a network of catwalks high above. Equipment ws everywhere– hydraulic lifts, welding torches, hazard suits, air-spades, forklifts, plus something that looked like a nuclear reaction chamber. Bulletin boars were covered with tattered, faded blueprints. War supplies were all over the place, and overhead hung an old tattered banner that read 'BUNKER 9.'

Festus's head sat on the central table, still battered and scorched from his final crash in Omaha. On a nearby bulletin board was pinned a blueprint of a Greek ship, like the one Leo had drawn in the paper Aeolus gave him.

Leo went to the dragon first, stroking his forehead. "I'm sorry, Festus. But I won't forget you."

Jason put a hand on his shoulder. "Hephaestus brought it here for you?" Leo nodded. "But you can't repair him."

"No way," said Leo. "But the head is going to be reused. Festus will be going with us."

"Going?" asked Emilia. "But–"

Before he could answer, Nyssa cried out, "Guys, look at this!" She was standing at one of the worktables, flipping through a sketchbook– diagrams for hundreds of different machines and weapons. "I've never seen anything like these. There are more amazing ideas here than in Daedalus's workshop. It would take a century just to prototype them all."

"Who built this place?" asked Jake Mason. "And why?"

"It's a wartime command center," realized Leo, gesturing to a map of Camp Half-Blood with a line of triremes in the Sound, catapults mounted in the hills around the valley, and spots marked for traps, trenches, and ambush sites. "The camp was attacked once, wasn't it?"

"In the Titan War?" asked Piper.

Nyssa shook her head. "No. Besides, that map looks really old. The date... does that say 1864?"

They turned to Chiron, whose tail swished fretfully. "This camp has been attacked many times. That map is from the last Civil War."

"Civil War," said Piper. "You mean the American Civil War, like a hundred and fifty years ago?"

"Yes and no," said Chiron. "The two conflicts– mortal and demigod– mirrored each other, as they usually do in Western history. Look at any civil war or revolution from the fall of Rome onward, and it marks the time when demigods also fought one another. But that Civil War was particularly horrible. For American mortals, it is still their bloodiest conflict of all time— worse than the casualties in the two World Wars. For demigods, it was equally devastating. Even back then, this valley was Camp Half-Blood. There was a horrible battle in these woods lasting for days, with terrible losses on both sides."

"Both sides," said Leo. "You mean the camp split apart?"

"No," said Emilia slowly. "The two groups. Camp Half-Blood on one side and... the Roman camp, right?"

Chiron nodded grimly. "The answer is dangerous. It is something I swore upon the River Styx never to speak of. After the American Civil War, the gods were so horrified by the toll it took on their children, that they swore it would never happen again. The two groups were separated. The gods bent all their will, wove the Mist as tightly as they could, to make sure the enemies never remembered each other, never met on their quests, so that bloodshed could be avoided. This map is from the final dark days of 1864, the last time the two groups fought. We've had several close calls since then. The 1960s were particularly dicey. But we've managed to avoid another Civil War– at least so far. Just as Leo guessed, this bunker was a command center for the hit Hephaestus cabin. In the last century, it has been re-opened a few times, usually as a hiding place in times of great unrest. But coming here is dangerous. It stores old memories, awakens the old feuds. Even when the Titans threatened last year, I did not think it worth the risk to use his place."

"Hey, look, this place found me," said Leo. "It was meant to happen. It's a good thing."

"I hope you're right," said Chiron.

"I am!" Leo pulled the old drawing out of his pocket and spread it on the table for everyone to see. "There. Aeolus returned that to me. I drew it when I was five. That's my destiny."

Nyssa frowned. "Leo, it's a crayon drawing of a boat."

"It's that boat," said Emilia, gesturing to the bulletin board. "Wow. Side by side... it's the exact same ship."

Jason read from the notes on the blueprint, "Prophecy– Unclear– Flight. It's a diagram for a flying ship. Look, that's the landing gear. And weaponry– Holy Hephaestus: rotating ballista, mounted crossbows, Celestial bronze plating. That thing would be one spankin' hot war machine. Was it ever made?"

"Not yet," said Leo. "Look at the masthead." There was no doubt– the figure at the front of the ship was the head of a dragon. A very particular dragon.

"Festus," said Piper.

"He's meant to be our masthead," agreed Leo. "Our good luck charm. Our eyes at sea. I'm supposed to build this ship. I'm gonna call it the Argo II. And guys, I'll need your help."

Emilia smiled slightly. "Like Jason's ship. We'll need it for... the gathering. Our journey, everything to come."

"What journey?" said Nyssa. "You just got back!"

"The Great Prophecy," said Emilia as Chiron nodded. "We must unite with the other four demigods, we have to confront Porphyrion and his siblings, we have to destroy the giants and Gaea and keep Olympus's roots strong. We... we're going to have to go to Greece, aren't we? Where it all began."